Carl Hagelin's First 10 Games by Mike Robinson

After a lengthy stint with the New York Rangers, Carl Hagelin's career has taken a nomadic turn. Hagelin was traded to the Anaheim Ducks right before free agency began in 2015. Hagelin was dealt along with two draft picks in exchange for right-winger Emerson Etem and a second round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Hagelin's tenure in Anaheim was an epic fail as he only managed 12 points in 43 games with the Ducks. He would be traded mid-season to the Penguins and become a major contributor in their run to Stanley Cup glory in 2016.

One would think that Carl Hagelin would continue his solid performance and pick up where he left off at the end of last season. However, he has gotten off to a rough start this season. In ten games, Carl Hagelin has managed to put up a measly two points. The two points consist of one goal and one assist.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a solid 8-2-2 start. Yet, Carl Hagelin has been very late to the party.

In the Penguin 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals in their season opener, Carl Hagelin was able to get only one shot attempt on goal during the entire game.

Two days later, Hagelin was able to get off three shots on goal, but none of those shots hit paydirt. There were two games in which Hagelin failed to get a shot off at all.

One of them was their Oct 17th game against the Colorado Avalanche and their Oct 20th matchup against the San Jose Sharks.

Carl Hagelin would net his first and only goal of the season in the Penguins 3-2 victory against the Florida Panthers on October 25th. One would hope that Hagelin's confidence would spike and that his play would enhance accordingly.

Unfortunately, Hagelin has only managed one assist since then. However, he was definitely involved more on the offensive end as he managed to get off a season-high four shots on goal.

While Hagelin's bad performance has not hurt the team's overall results this far, it is a definite cause of concern. If the Penguin are serious about repeating, the Penguins' HBK line (or rather the newly formed HCH line now) must be on point. Hagelin will definitely need to get his act together very quickly.

At the time of this writing, Hagelin has only sixteen shots and a +/- of -3. He does not affect the game in other ways to make up for his lack of scoring prowess. Carl Hagelin has only eight hits and four blocked shots so far this season. Simply put, Hagelin's impact on the game is on the offensive end.

It should be known that Carl Hagelin's futility is not in any early trouble due to a lack of time on the ice. Hagelin's average ice time is 16:12. By comparison, Hagelin's average ice time for his career is 15:40.